Man Collecting Reclaimed Bricks To Build A Cellar Ended Up On A Treasure Hunt For The Ages

Usually, a home renovation comes with one big reveal. You know—that HGTV-worthy moment when the curtain is pulled back and everyone gets their first look at the new kitchen? However, in at least one instance, the biggest reveal wasn’t the renovation itself…

As one Imgur user experienced firsthand, constructing a beautiful addition with his boss could lead to a few amazing reveals. Though the project itself turned out wonderfully, the most amazing part was right under their noses…

Handy people start home renovation projects for a lot of different reasons. Sometimes it’s because the house is too run-down and needs some serious upkeep if it’s going to continue to stand for years to come.

Other times, the owners have simply decided that it’s time to spruce things up. This can include upgrading the kitchen with new appliances or a fresh coat of paint, or it might involve more construction-heavy tasks, like building a new addition. Naturally, any project can come with its own set of surprises…

That’s exactly what happened to one Canadian man and Imgur user, who spent the summer working with his boss to build a wine cellar for a client in Vancouver. It was their job to transform this basement into a beautiful repository for wine, but it turned into something so much more!

“Built this wine cellar with my boss for a client,” the man shared online. “Found something pretty neat!” He wasn’t speaking out of turn, either. This young fella found something pretty exceptional in the process of building the cellar…

However, this plucky renovator wasn’t about to reveal his surprising discovery. At least, he wasn’t about to do it right away! “It was built with local sandstone and reclaimed brick,” he started.

It’s clear that there was quite a bit of craftsmanship on display here, as rustic as the cellar might have seemed. While the cellar was an entirely new addition to the home, many of the bricks used to build it had been around for some time.

That was because in order to construct the cellar and maintain an old fashioned feel, the men used reclaimed bricks—and one of those bricks held a surprise. “Here is one of the reclaimed bricks with a partial stamp.” What could those strange symbols possibly mean?

At that point, the man could have just shrugged off the symbols and ignored them entirely, but he was really curious. He couldn’t shake the feeling that these symbols told a fascinating story he just had to learn…

Though the man worked with reclaimed materials, including bricks, often during his job, he had never seen marks on other bricks that looked quite like these. Naturally, he wanted some answers.

If he was going to solve this brick’s mysterious history, he’d have to do some serious digging. Luckily, he knew that symbols on bricks often indicated something important about them…

Marks on bricks can mean different things. Sometimes bricks are imprinted with the name of the firm responsible for making them; other times, bricks can be marked with symbols indicating where and when the brick originated.

Thankfully, if you’re looking for information about a brick, there are several valuable resources that you can consult. Brick aficionados around the globe have made it their business to record the different meanings of bricks they find and make them available online.

“I did some research to find where and when these bricks came from,” said the man. He thought that with all of the databases, available it’d be a relatively easy feat to get the information that he needed…

However, it took him a little bit longer than he expected—but it was absolutely worth the wait. As he discovered, this brick was made in Illinois by the Illinois Brick Company, which shut down back in 1938.

It was clear that these bricks went on quite a journey! “It’s quite impressive seeing as though the wine cellar is on Vancouver Island,” the man said once he learned of the brick’s origins.

While it was helpful to have this information, it also left him with more questions. How on Earth did a brick all the way from the middle of the United States make its way to a Canadian island? Where was this brick first used? The questions kept coming.

As amazing as it was that he found any information at all, he was about to discover something even more enlightening about these unusual bricks. “One day I reached for a brick only to have the end of it fall off, revealing…”

“…What I’m assuming is some poor factory worker’s house key. Either that or I am about to embark on an adventure as grand as National Treasure 2,” he joked. Can you imagine what door this key once opened?

It’s crazy that something as valuable as a key would be hidden in a brick! While it’s highly unlikely that this key was intentionally placed there, it can’t be denied that it was a truly amazing find. Nic Cage would be proud!

Hopefully, if this guy really does embark upon an adventure worthy of a National Treasure movie, he’ll keep us updated! The mere fact that he found such an old key in a brick is pretty wild. Who would have thought all of that cool stuff would come from building a wine cellar?

What an incredible story! It will definitely change the way that you look at your average building bricks from here on out, won’t it?

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